Previous rape case against Game boss surfaces

Game Stores Zambia manager Vincent Palan has now been accused of having raped a former junior when he was working at Game City in South Africa.
Palan is already facing charges of sexually harassing a worker at Game Zambia. But an email from a woman called Stacy Govender to Palan written in 2013 says:

“Hey u think I forgot what u did to me in your office at Game City? Hope u enjoyed yourself. U threatened me with my job-and and laughed at me in my face when I told you I had missed my period. Now this is my pay back f…..g animal. This is just the start. I wonder how many girls you did this to and now you are a store manager, let’s see for how long.”

In Zambia Mukamuluti Mwila accuses Palan of sexually abusing her and threatening to fire her if she did not agree to have sex with her.

A letter of complaint from Mwila alleges that Palan, on three occasions, touched her in a sexual way during work hours and threatened to have her fired if she did not oblige to his sexual overtures.

“The first time he touched the inside of my thighs and I moved away. I felt very uncomfortable but he proceeded and touched my upper thighs and even pulled down my underwear,” Mwila said before she broke down in tears.

Meanwhile, Palan has hired three people to pretend to be workers of Game Stores to write a letter defending him. Read the unsigned letter below. But the Watchdog has been reliably informed that no Game store worker agreed to defend Palan or was aware of the statement below.

The statement was sent from Taj Pamodzi hotel business centre. Three men one carrying a flash drive said they were sent to email the article below to all media houses and asked to use the main frame computer at Pamodzi.
And Game Store long serving employees have told the Watchdog that contrary to claims contained in the statement by palan’s men, no manager of Game in Zambia had been accused of sexual harassment.

‘All past store managers non of them left on the sexual abuse cases. They were transferred normally. Only one incident of the Zambian who was a Sales Manager who was accused of the sexual harassment case in 2006. He was fired within hours after the case started,’ said one sources.
Below is the statement from Palani and his men:

Palan

As workers of Games Stores, we wish to rally behind our Store Manager Vincent Palan who has been accused of sexual harassment at the work place.
The work environment at Game Stores is cordial and serene. We work in a peaceful and lovingly atmosphere. The accusations against our boss are pure malice and lack substance.
We have chosen to speak out after we observed that the campaign to malign our boss is deep rotted and well planned. The headlines in our media against Mr Palan are part of the scheme to discredit and taint his good image.
We have received the accusations against Mr Palan with a strong pinch of salt. Our investigations have concluded that the accusations are part of an orchestrated campaign against Mr Palan by a group of disgruntled former workers in collusion with one of the senior Zambian manager who is eyeing the position.
The over three years of Mr Palan’s stay at Game Stores have been characterized with excellent employee-employer relations. He has stabilized and promoted industrial

Mukamuluti Mwila

harmony at the store and he has continued promoting hard working employees to full time and managerial positions.
Mr Palan is a humble man who does not deserve to go through what he is being made o go through. He is an innocent and hardworking man who is being targeted by a group of jealousy people who want to see him deported.
It is unfortunate that they are using young ladies to peddle rumours about Mr Palan. These ladies are being used as pawns in a game of position at Game Stores. It is also unfortunate that senior Government leaders are being dragged into this senseless matter.
Accusations labeled against Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda that he enjoys hefty discounts are also baseless. Mr Shamenda is treated just like any other customer each time he walks into our shop.
Games Stores is renowned for excellent customer care and with low prices. Our motto is ‘We beat Every Price’ and that is exactly how we treat each and every customer.
For the lady in question, we wish to advise her to be grateful for the opportunities she received at the instigation of Mr Palan. She is a simple Grade 12 school leaver who had to undergo through training at company expense to give her the requisite skills. She has everything to lose by agreeing to be part of the evil plan to discredit a humble and hardworking man.
We also wish to advise our ladies to desist from making wild accusations against their senior managers each time they fail to get their way on the corporate ladder. We need our sisters to adopt a positive work culture and they should be ready to be promoted on merit. They should desist from using their bodies as a way of getting promotions. The public should also know that it is not only women that get abused at the workplace. A considerable number of men also get some level of abuse at the workplace which does not even get reported.
To Zambians working alongside foreigners, please let us not adopt xenophobic tendencies against foreigners working in Zambia. Zambia also has a lot of its nationals working in places far and wide and it will not do for us to start chasing away people on the basis that we do not like a foreign manager.
History will show that this is not the first time that such vague accusations are being leveled against senior managers at Games Stores. This goes to prove that there is a clique of disgruntled elements within the business that are bent on frustrating every hardworking foreign manager. The previous Manager was also forced to unceremoniously vacate his post after a series of unsubstantiated sexual claims.
Issued by: Workers of Games Stores Zambia
13/08/14